The Coen Brothers often gravitate toward stories about folks that are in over their
heads in situations spiraling from one single decision. Actions have consequences, and
what is intended as merely passive involvement ultimately results in very active
participation. In the case of Fargo (1996), Jerry Lundegaard’s (William H. Macy)
complicated get-rich-quick scheme of secretly hiring goons to kidnap his wife for a
massive ransom to be paid by her rich father, which would then be split between said
goons and Jerry – well, that was never going to work in his favor. When the blood of
innocent people is inevitably spilled, that blood is on his hands.
The question of what is considered to be a crime in the eyes of God as compared
to the eyes of man has been a debate throughout human history, but in Fargo, it’s safe
to say that Jerry Lundegaard’s transgressions fall right in the middle of that Venn
Diagram. Regardless, those crimes have to be answered to – in this life or the next. No
matter how many feet of snow covered his tracks, Jerry’s crimes were destined to be
met with punishment. He consciously made these immoral choices to begin with, but he
has another choice to make by the end of the film: Keep running from the law of God
and man, or retain some semblance of dignity and own up to his wrongdoing. That is a
choice we all have in our own lives and walks with God. — Thomas Manning (2024)
Arts & Faith Lists:
2024 Top 25 Crime and Punishment Films — #11